Leatherhead 2 Hanworth Villa 1
Leatherhead extended their unbeaten run to eight matches with a hard fought 2-1 win
against Hanworth Villa at Fetcham Grove on Saturday.
Tanners scored twice in the opening half and missed several opportunities to add to
their lead before being pegged back by Villa.
Jerry Wiltshire made a solid debut for Tanners, with the former Hampton &
Richmond Borough player sitting comfortably in defence alongside Niran Butler,
Cameron Black and Louie Paget.
Leatherhead opened the scoring on ten minutes following the first corner of the
match. An unmarked Black met Nathan Hogan’s in swinging delivery, dipping down
to head the ball home from six yards out.
Villa almost struck back four minutes later, with George Wells forcing a fine low save
from Tanners keeper Sonny Wheeler.
Anas Igozouln combined with Seb Tauta-Caballero on 27 minutes, with the former
Dorking Wanderers player’s goal-bound effort well blocked by a Villa defender.
Tanners doubled their lead on 36 minutes. The quick paced Tauta-Caballero fed an
advancing Hogan, who cleverly side-stepped Villa keeper Gary Ross before planting
the ball into the corner of the net.
The Villains nearly pulled a goal back on 51 minutes. Sam Merson’s wide angled
delivery completed deceived Wheeler, with the ball floating over the head of the
Tanners keeper and striking the crossbar.
Leatherhead performed a similar feat at the other end five minutes later. Igozouln
curled a shot over Ross and against the bar, before Hogan’s follow up was turned
away for a corner.
Villa made a significant substitution on 56 minutes, with the towering Joe Adoo-
Peters replacing former Tanners midfielder Marco Haigh. The change re-energised
the visitors. Almost immediately Merson cut between defenders Butler and Paget
before firing a looping shot narrowly over the top of the bar.
Leatherhead were caught out by a quick break from the visitors on 65 minutes, with
an unmarked Adoo-Peters cutting through the Tanners defence to pull a goal back for
Villa.
Leatherhead created several chances to score a third goal in a thrilling, end to end,
final half hour. Hogan hit the visitors’ crossbar from a wide angle, before Brandon
Curtis tested Wheeler with another fine strike from the visitors on 88 minutes.
At the other end Tanners’ subs Alex Body and Kane Fitzgerald combined well,
producing a swift counter-attack, with Body forcing another smart save from Ross.
The match’s biggest talking point came in the second minute of added time.
With Villa pressing forward in an increasingly desperate search for an equaliser,
Tanners launched another quick counter attack. Hogan received the ball thirty yards
from goal and was cut down by a cynical challenge from Ross, with the Villa keeper
advancing well outside of his penalty area. It was a potential sending off offence, but
with other Villa defenders covering back behind Ross, the referee deemed that a goal
scoring opportunity had not been denied and only showed a yellow card to the keeper.
Fitzgerald’s subsequent free kick cleared a wall of defenders and thundered against
the Villa crossbar.
Tanners saw out a further four minutes of added time before the referee eventually
blew the final whistle.
With results elsewhere going in their favour, Leatherhead extended their lead at the
top of the table to four points. Tanners now have a week to prepare for their next
match, when they host Canvey Island in an FA Trophy tie at Fetcham Grove.
Saturday’s kick off is at 3.00pm.
Leatherhead: Sonny Wheeler, Jerry Wiltshire, Louie Paget, Mark Waters, Niran
Butler, Cameron Black, Billy Montague (Kane Fitzgerald 67), Anas Igozouln (Kelvin
Massango 87), Seb Tauta-Caballero, Nathan Hogan Jacob Breckon (Alex Body 65)
Hanworth Villa: Gary Ross, Ben Geraghty, Josh Casey, Guy Ansah-Palmer, Guy
Holliss, George Wells, Kensley Maloney (Sam Mead 83), Brandon Curtis, Sam
Merson, Marco Haigh (Joe Adoo-Peters 56), Matthew MacArthur (Abdullah Javaid
82)
